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The color man for WGN Radio broadcasts of Cubs games has finally been decided. It’s former Cub and former Twins broadcaster Ron Coomer, beating out CSN pre-and-post gamer Todd Hollandsworth. Coomer gets a two-year deal, even though the Cubs’ contract with WGN Radio currently runs only through 2014 – I guess all the sides decided to cross that bridge if and when they come to it. I can’t give you much in the way of thoughts on Coomer, who replaces Keith Moreland alongside Pat Hughes, since I’ve never heard him calling a game. I’m sure he’s swell, though, and we’ll find out soon enough.

Not that it should surprise you, as the deal was pretty plain on its face, but Cubs GM Jed Hoyer confirmed that yesterday’s Brian Bogusevic/Justin Ruggiano swap was simply about balancing out the roster. “We like Bogusevic a lot but feel it’s a better fit for our roster to get a guy who hits left-handed pitching well,” Hoyer told Cubs.com. “He can platoon with one of several guys we have and play all three outfield positions. Sometimes it is about fit. Brian did a really good job for us. Ruggiano fits our roster better, and we’re excited to work out a deal for him.” All fair.

But what about Junior Lake? Does it push him out of a spot? Nah. Hoyer indicated that there will still be plenty of at bats for Lake, even if he didn’t quite go so far as to say “Junior Lake is definitely our starting left fielder next year.” That’s probably how this thing plays out, but no sense in locking yourself into a box if you don’t have to. In terms of winning in 2014, I remain very lukewarm on the idea that Lake can provide league average production in left field. But, in terms of the long-term future, and given the state of the projected roster for 2014, I say, what the hell. Let Lake start. Maybe he’s the exception to oh-so-many rules.

As we’d been thinking, the Masahiro Tanaka situation is clearly holding up the entire starting pitching market, both the free agents and the trade. That’s what folks tell Jayson Stark in his Winter Meetings winners/losers column, anyway. The Cubs were neither a winner nor a loser, which sounds right to me.

Mark Prior on the game of baseball, and the fact that nothing is granted. As Patrick Mooney points out, it’s a reminder of why you can’t solely rely on prospects coming up and being the answer. They’re a huge piece of the puzzle, but they’re not everything. It’s not realistic, and fraught with risk.

FanGraphs digs into the Roberto Hernandez signing – the Phillies got the erstwhile Cubs target for one year and a maximum of $6 million – and projects that he’s got a very good chance to rebound next year after an historically, unsustainably high homer rate last year. I love that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. can, on the one hand, sign a guy whose baseball card stats look like crap, but whose advanced stats look good, and then on the other hand, compared Kyle Kendrick to Matt Garza using career win totals.

I read somewhere that Ruggiano’s splits were much better away from that ridiculous fishbowl. I think he may work out well for the Cubs.

Mush

I love Brett’s reactions when the Cubs lose players like Mateo. He has been around forever and sucks. I know he loves Cubs but C’mon Man!

Fishin Phil

Mateo does suck when he is injured. Not as much when he is healthy.

beerhelps

SMH

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

So many questions. When did I say that about Mateo? What does that have to do with this post?

I guess just two.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

My entire reaction on losing Mateo:

“Crap on a cracker: the Diamondbacks do it again to the Cubs, taking reliever Marcos Mateo. The 29-year-old reliever, who has spent a couple years getting over an arm injury, is dominating in the Dominican Republic right now. He has a very good chance of sticking with the Diamondbacks, and actually helping.”

Care to re-phrase?

dumbledoresacubsfan

I assume Mush read this: “is dominating in the Dominican Republic right now” and this: “very good chance of sticking with the Diamondbacks, and actually helping.” and felt you are giving Mateo too much credit.

Spriggs

Yes, that is the way I took it as well. He thinks Brett should say, “Mateo sucks like all the other loser Cubs, so good riddance”

The positives I take out if Mateo getting snatched are 1. Great the Cubs are now in position that they can’t rule 5 everyone with talent starting to over flow beyond what can be protected . 2. Cubs finally in a development level where they don’t have to waste a full season 25 man roster spot on a fringe prospect.

Great for Mateo as well …hopefully he succeeds if not we will see him again

J.F.Edwards

Agreed. And I’m going to use this post to make a minor rant (that will probably be ignored but help me feel better).

Cubfanbob gives two reasons he agrees with Brett. Brett gives evidence of why he thinks Mateo could end up being a good player in the near future (specifically, healthy and recent past performance).

So I’m okay with Brett showing us his view of players based on stats and the status of the roster (past performance, projections, good fit/bad fit/40-man issues, etc.)

Frankly, I thought that’s why we were all here.

I like the discussion in the comments when it is based on some reasoning rather than simple opinion. I don’t even care if it’s bad reasoning i.e. Ruben Amaro, Jr. spinning players with the best light he can shine on them so as to make them look better than the are. That’s just good rhetoric and part of being a GM. ut at least he’s trying to use some evidence (however poorly) to prop up his statements.

But just blurting out something akin to, “I love Brett’s reactions when the Cubs lose players like Mateo. He has been around forever and sucks. I know he loves Cubs but C’mon Man!” reeks of baseless opinion.

This reaction presents no evidence. It can be safely ignored.

I think we come to this site for the details, analysis, and evidenced-based opinions of our man, Ace, and Luke and Jay.

We can disagree with the conclusions they draw from the information they present. But I think that’s a challenge to respond with some other view, based on other evidence, perspective, and reasoning.

Reading and responding to comments that don’t do this are a waste of time. Especially when Mateo isn’t even mentioned in this particular post 😛

ssckelley

He must not suck that bad for a playoff contender to take a chance on him with one of their 25 man active roster spots. Small sample size and all but he was terrific in the minors this past season and he is dominating the winter league. With the Cubs dumpster diving and trying to sign free agents I think they might have let one slip past them.

DocPeterWimsey

Yes, yes, every Rule 5 guy your team lets go is the next Johan Santana, and every one that your team grabs is the next Joe Smith.

C. Steadman

i dont think kelley ever once said he’ll be Johan…he’s looking at the fact that Cubs say they need bullpen help so why not DFA Brett Jackson or someone and add Mateo to the 40-man as a guy who will compete for the pen

http://deleted cub2014

I think Mateo has a chance of sticking. I think
one of the reasons the FO didnt protect is he has
been hurt a lot the last few years. Isnt he also
getting old?

C. Steadman

i think he’s 29…and I agree…kind’ve a risk to put on the 40 man bc only guy I would DFA is Brett Jackson and doing that might not be as simple as just saying it

http://deleted cub2014

Yes Jackson would have been a good DFA
I doubt any team would put him on the 40 man
right now.

ssckelley

Aw come on now, at no point was I comparing losing Mateo to a Santana. It has been well documented that the Cubs have been in on quite a few bullpen free agents. We are talking about bullpen help here not a potential Cy Young award winner.

The good news is Mateo went to a team that will not waste a roster spot just to carry someone, so he could get offered back to the Cubs. The bad news is if he sticks with Arizona he must have been pretty damn good. We are not talking about losing a 21/22 year old prospect here, but a 29 year old veteran who has MLB experience coming off elbow surgery that has been pitching in the “high 90s” in the DR. It is possible the Cubs slipped on this one, it happens.

cubfanbob

Just like Starlin Peralta right ?

Spriggs

I like the Coomer signing. Have always enjoyed his post game stuff with the Twins, but never heard him do play by play. Chicago guy, isn’t he?

YourResidentJag

He’s actually pretty solid. I’ve heard him calling games out of town for Blyleven. The Twins actually have some good broadcasters. Roy Smalley is another good one.

Nobody could be worse than Moreland—-Oh wait, Joe Carter was. They should just let Hughes call the games by himself. Actually, they should just have the radio feed be the TV feed as well, as good as Pat is.

Rebuilding

I would be all for Hughes calling the games himself. Between Santo and Moreland I’m not sure how he kept his sanity

Voice of Reason

YES! They should have let Pat do games all by himself.

Every person that has worked with Pat has just gotten in his way.

He is a master at his craft.

They should have at least let him do the games solo for just one year!

Edwin

Ha, and just have dead silence when he leaves for the 5th inning. Nothing but stadium sounds.

Mick

Thanks for the link Spriggs, that speech was pretty cool. I hope the Cubs do the same thing and get this guy out there making more of these speeches.

Mick

Smalley’s great and Tim Laudner’s pretty good too. Everyone will have to warm up to Coomer a little bit because he’s a bit of a goof ball but he really knows what he’s talking about and can talk for hours. I’d actually MUCH rather Coomer be on TV instead of DeShaies, sorry Jim.

http://bleachernation.com woody

I think Lake is the exception to the rule. I’ve had a gut feeling about him for some time. If his performance over the winter is any indication then he should be in good shape.

itzscott

I’d have to say that an HONEST answer from Hoyer regarding Lake would have been “Barring a trade, Junior Lake would have to play himself out of the starting LF or CF position during spring training.”

jj

The argument for Lake is that he underperformed his talent throughout the minors and that Lake is now poised to perform to his talent level. It’s highly unlikely, but maybe he has turned a corner.

mdavis

he could just be one of those guys that needed the challenge of the big leagues to elevate his play. not saying thats the case, but hey its possible.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Well put.

CubFan Paul

Underperformed is a strong word.

itzscott

That argument can easily be settled by giving Lake the opportunity to prove himself one way or the other during a year where he can only help the team yet do nothing to hurt it anymore than it is.

It could be a pleasant surprise, and if not, then no harm and the verdict is in.

Jay

And it’s not like there’s anybody else important blocking him. I don’t feel compelled to find any more at bats than necessary for the Ruggiano’s and Sweeneys of the world.

ClevelandCubsFan

does anyone know how did junior Lake got his name? Its not a very Spanish name. Lake is not a Hispanic family name. It’s anglo, and Junior Lake even appears on Wikipedia’s list of people with the English surname. Does he have a British or American relative in the mix somewhere? I know it’s offtopic and really just trivia. But it’s always piqued my curiosity.

Senor Cub

Anyone one next to Pat Hugues will sound just great!

Smitty

I have to agree with this. Pat calls a great game. He is no Vin Scully, but I don’t think anyone other than Scully calls a better game.

Jay

Actually, I would take Pat over the extremely overrated Vin Scully all day long.

Fishin Phil

Me too! Never really cared for Vin.

Spriggs

Ditto

Luis Salazar

I think Stark did place the Cubs in the “losers column”. From his article “But the rest of the NL Central? The Pirates, Brewers, Cubs and Reds have mostly been treading water this winter. “. The argument is basically that “But six weeks into the offseason, the Cardinals have only lengthened their gap between themselves and the rest of this pack.”

Rebuilding

If the Cubs offered the money Shark wanted he would sign. All of this conjecture that he wants to play for a “winner” is silly. Unless guys are close to retirement chasing a ring or giving a home team discount they go where the money is

Scombs

Also, “Teams trying to trade starting pitchers” could include the Cubbies. Of course, that’s debatable, since the Cubs are playing in the gray trade-vs-extension area.

Curt

Don’t know if ill like coomer so ill reserve judgement but I like hollandsworth would hve liked him.

Die hard

Speaking of football if Cutler was a mensch he would take back up role given team doing ok with his backup – I hope he gets creamed first series just to wake him up

Die hard

Good to have a Ron in booth again

ClevelandCubsFan

The first name Ron should have veen retired.

http://BN Sacko

Good AM from ND it’s below zero and just to mention I’ve heard and saw
Coomer several times with Twins up here. He is actually pretty good even tho an X Twin.
These meeting have been really disapointing and I think we could have done better on pitching for who has been signed by others but position players I’ve haven’t disagreed with.
I think it will be exciting to see Lake everyday, what happens at 3rd and 2nd and a bounce back on Rizzo Jackson Castro. The BP has greatly improved from start of 2012.
I am really concerned Shark wants out of here and Tanaka would prefer to sign elsewhere. Whenever he may have that opportunity.

CubFan Paul

“Tanaka would prefer to sign elsewhere”

His decision could be partly driven by market (..money first for sure). Wherever Tanaka lands, he’ll have at least 30 Japanese beatwriters moving to the States also to follow him

http://BN Sacko

I think that would help a preference wouldn’t it. In addition to what he knows about the Cubs may also give him preference elsewhere. It’s barking up a tree now nobody is there until he’s posted and we will find out.

Rebuilding

If the Cubs offer him the most money he will come here. Chicago is not Kansas City

CubFan Paul

“If the Cubs offer him the most money he will come here”

And if the Cubs really wanted to re-sign Shark they should offer more and overpay.

I’m seeing a trend.

hansman

That players like to get the most money as possible?

CubFan Paul

No, Rebuilding’s way to keep/recruit players ($60 plus million for Shark’s first 3 free agent years (yikes)).

hansman

Ya, his Shark Signing Plan was bonkers and I think if the Cubs offered that, Shark would need TJ from signing his name so fast.

Spoda17

I like Lake, but I actually think by exposing him full time in left may lessen our ability to trade him if he is average or worse. I don’t think Lake is a long term guy (although I kinda wish he could be), so a trade may be the best course with him as part of a bigger package.

I guess that’s a risk every time you bring someone up and they still need some developing.

http://BN Sacko

who else can be exposed, for some reason he is underestimated. I hope those are wrong, he could eventually move to center where his #’s would look better.

Blackhawks1963

Can Ron Coomer be any worse than Jim Deshaies? I’ll reserve judgment until I listen to Coomer.

My problem with the broadcasts are about the play by play guy on TV and radio. I can’t stand Len Kaspar…he literally never shuts up and is the polor opposite of the Jack Buck / Pat Summeral style of broadcast where the spoken word is economized and the play on the field tells the story. Pat Hughes is just flat out plain creepy….a highly cliched baseball voice and a weird man who sounds like he lives with Mom and peeks thru the curtains and school kids getting off the bus…he’s a weirdo. Hate him.

ClevelandCubsFan

Wow. Guess Uncle Pat is not invited to Christmas dinner, huh?

Fishin Phil

I met Pat once, did not find him creepy at all. To each his own.

MichiganGoat

Some people feel great horror when meeting a god and that what Pat is. A velvety voice with a touch of scotch if I’d met him I’d find it creepy how in awe of him I’d be.

Spriggs

Met him and spoke to him briefly at the Cubsfest at Ron Santo’s HOF induction in Cooperstown. Was an absolute gem of a guy. Spoke to fans and signed hundreds of autographs. If there was a creep among us that day, it wasn’t Pat Hughes.

http://BN Sacko

He’s better then Deshaies

Jay

I can only hope that JD loosens up in his second year. He was as boring as refrigerator hum last year. But, I also remember Brenly being super vanilla too his first year and what a stud color man he turned out to be.

Jon

Shut the fuck up. You don’t know anything about Pat Hughes and you are comparing him to a child stalker? Just shut the fuck up. Everyone of your posts is just like diarrhea, it just rattles on, and on and on. Go crawl in a cave somewhere.

David

I heard the Yanks declined a trade of Gardner for the Reds 2nd baseman (forgot his name). Trade was formally presented to them. They want to hold off to possibly use him for a trade to get pitching. Shark perhaps?? Williams, DePaula and Gardner for Shark.

C. Steadman

i see what you did there..haha bravo

ClevelandCubsFan

I like the idea of Brandon Phillips playing for Joe Girardi. Big personalities are welcome in New York, but big personalities have to be tempered In the Yankees Clubhouse. I think it could be really good for Philips.

Cubfan Budman

Brett you do a great job don’t let the Mushy idiots get to you! Your only fault is your a Michigan fan lol. Keep up the good work and thank you !

Randy

Seeings how they did zip at the meetings I say they weren’t winners and they were losers.
Not drinking the juice anymore as some might be.

Jay

They did zip because they’re not going to spend any money this year—not unless at the end of the offseason there’s a chance for real value. They certainly weren’t going to open up the checkbooks right at the starting gate.

Randy

IS that because they are the TB Rays Jay. A large market club sitting on their hands.
And the starting gate will soon be the finish line with zip being accomplished.
I repeat … rebuild and spend and win.. It can happen. I love how everyone hates the Yankees. Maybe they do get some bad contracts but they have a desire to just win baby.

Jon

Do the Cubs have the worst outfield in baseball?

http://BN Sacko

about 200 RBI’s out there is my guess.

C. Steadman

“luv me some ribs…i mean rbis…” -Dusty Baker

hansman

wait so the Cubs OF is going to bat runs in while playing defense?

MARKET INEFFICIENCY FOUND!!! Get guys that can contribute, offensively, on the defensive side of the game.

ruby2626

does anyone know what junior lake is doing this off season? Is he playing the OF in a dominincan league somewhere, anyone know how he’s doing? I would expect major OF defense improvement from the guy, was actually not fair to him to just stick in CF with the big club when he had played so little in the minors. Certainly has the arm and athletiscism to be an above avg OF. I’m not predicting stardom or anything but he should be a serviceable reserve for years to come, have to love his split against lefties, he should start every game when one is on the mound.

AB

I read somewhere (forget where) that he was in a Dominican league, and that he was hitting well and playing LF with some CF.

ssckelley

You probably read that here as I remember reading the same thing. I also recall that Lake is done in the Winter Leagues to prepare for spring training.

http://deleted cub2014

I think Lake led his dominican league in hitting
around .365? same league that included Profar
if I am not mistaken.

http://www.cwsnaturally.com Evolution

Living in Minnesota, I’ve heard Coomer with the Twins from time to time. I’ve always thought of him as being more a studio guy…but, his personality feels pretty easy to target.

He’s more Santo-ish than Hollandsworth…knows the game well, but likely better suited to play Pat’s affable sidekick.

I was actually rooting for Hollandsworth, but I’m certain people will enjoy Coomer.

Fastball

I like Lake. I don’t think he is going to get exposed playing him in LF or CF. He is one of those guys that takes off at this level. We are going to be shocked at how good he is this year. He’s a horse I will bet money on. If we could pull up 3 more Lakes we would have something.

CubFan Paul

“I will bet money on. If we could pull up 3 more Lakes we would have something”

Put me in this boat.

DocPeterWimsey

I agree that Lake won’t “get exposed” in LF or CF. However, that is because FOs pay a lot of attention to how guys did in the minors. Lake’s weaknesses (particularly an inability to recognize pitches) are well-documented: even if the Cubs judiciously use him against only pitchers against whom he can do well, it won’t fool people into forgetting his miLB stats.

At any rate, he really is not the sort of guy who takes off at this level: quite the opposite, guys with his miLB performance breakdowns almost always get buried in MLB.

hansman

“If we could pull up 3 more Lakes we would have something.”

Yup, odds are 1 of them would become a serviceable major leaguer.

Edwin

Yeah, but if we start pulling up lakes, what’s going to happen to all the fish and wildlife?

hansman

More fun question, if you were to pull up the lakes and put them in orbit around the Earth, what would happen?

SOMEONE GET XKCD ON THE LINE!!!!!111!!!!11!!!1!

http://deleted cub2014

you would get global cooling and we dont need
anymore of that !!!!11!!!!!1111111!!!!!!1111!!!!1!!!!

DocPeterWimsey

My guess is that you’d get rings like the Jovian planets have, albeit not terribly big. (I’m betting that the volume of water in the world’s lakes wouldn’t be enough to sustain really whomping rings.)

Edwin

So the Cubs could finally get their ring?

DocPeterWimsey

No, ESPN would award it the Yankees.

hansman

It all depends in how you release it.

1. Take all of the water straight up and release it as a singular mass. This would crash back to Earth and, probably, end up in the ocean. Depending on the height of the release, you might get a cometary type impact. This would be a spherical object 35 miles in diameter. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html

2. Take each lake and lift it straight up and release. A whole bunch of comets would come crashing into the atmosphere and you’d probably get a dozen or so large impacts.

3. Lift all of the water up as a single unit and place it into orbit. Hooray tiny 2nd moon. Question is, would this be a natural or artificial sattellite and what would we call it.

4. Lift all of the lakes straight up and place them into an orbit. You’d get a weird bubble of comets surrounding the Earth with a lot of them in a highly inclined orbit.

5. Do #4 but put all of the water in the same plane. Now, take that 23,000 cubic miles of water and chop it into 1 cubic mile blocks. That would mean that you have a ring system (assuming a 500 mile high orbit) with one of these chunks a little more than a mile apart. (the circumference of a 500 mile high orbit is around 26,000 miles) If you took those chunks down to meter wide objects, you would get a ring system that you might be able to see in the twilight hours on the horizon.

But we wouldn’t have any water to drink anymore.

cub2014

If Lake starts and we dont sign a leadoff guy.
I would love to see Lake in that role. I think it
his best opportunity to succeed. Especially
since the team doesnt have a true leadoff guy.

cubsklm

I like the Coomer signing.

Very low risk, short term deal, high upside, nice reclamation project, and we can flip him.

BD

Didn’t Stark list the Cubs under not one, but two sections of the “Losers” list?

cubsklm

If you look at the Cubs outfield of Lake, Sweeney, Ruggiano, and Schierholtz over the last 3 seasons here’s what they average:

this is a flawed study…the BA is fine bc its already an average but Runs, HR, RBI and SB are cumulative so a three year average will obviously bring their totals down bc last year was Schierholtz’s first full season as a regular so the 2011 and 12 stats will bring his down…Sweeney had been injured during those three years so he projects to play alot more than what he did in those three years…also Lake only played a partial season so his totals should increase

cubsklm

And you believe Schierholtz will repeat last years numbers, Lake won’t slide, and Ruggiano will hit better in Wrigley.

The OF is pathetic, a crop of #4 outfielders at best.

C. Steadman

didnt say this was a great group…just said averaging their R/HR/RBI/SB over the past three years to project what 2014 totals will be is flawed…I actually believe all four players will outperform those averages with the possible exception being BA but they’ll outperform R/HR/RBI/SB

cking25

Do you really think thats a fair assessment? Considering that 3 of those 4 belong in a platoon and 1 is a rookie. Or how bout the fact that before last year Scheriholtz was a part time player, and Sweeney had been productive as a part time player as recently as 2011 before being injured the last 2 years. How about a little positivity around here I am not saying these guys are allstars , but maybe they can be a productive part of a platoon.

cubsklm

I am positive.

I am positive the OF is the worst in the majors. Positive this team as currently constructed can not hit or score runs. Positive that 3 of our 4 OF are platoon/bench players.

I am a life long Cub fan going back to the Santo, Banks, Williams, days.

I support the rebuild, all I am saying I have seen nothing done this offseason to improve the MLB product.

Is the plan to bring up all of our talented prospects and turn them loose in a team that has averaged 90 plus losses for several years.

When does competitiveness come into the picture.

cubbiehawkeye

You obviously didn’t watch many games late last year. Lake was ultra competitive and Sweeny hit the DL last year being competitive. I kid, I know what you meant. I sound like a broken record around here but cubsklm I challenge you to tell me one thing they should have done this offseason to improve the team. Sign Cano?

CubFan Paul

“Sign Cano?”

Do you have something against good baseball players?

cubsfan08

I don’t have a license. Won’t have one for another few years. But I’m gonna buy a Ferrari now.

…I need to step away from the keyboard for a while me thinks.

C. Steadman

Twins have a pretty bad outfield

DocPeterWimsey

So do the Astros. (We should assume that they will get non-Coors Dexter Fowler, not Coors Dexter Fowler.)

C. Steadman

also the Phillies…they are a terrible defensive OF that greatly hurts their value

JulioZuleta

The Phillies-Hernandez signing led to a Keith Law joke that finally made me smile. Something along the lines of “Roberto Hernandez became much more attractive to the Phillies and Amaro when he told them that he is actually much older than previously thought.” Still not great, but a step in the right direction for Keith.

ruby2626

Just read in the Trib that Lake is hitting .343 in 27 games in the Dominican. In the same article they printed some of Mateo’s stats and if K’s are an indication we may regret not protecting him. 22 K’s in 19 innings and a 0.98 ERA in the winter. Also mentioned 1.74 ERA this summer with 3 minor league stops. At the ML level a few years before his injuries 51 K’s in only 44 innings, certainly appears like he can miss bats.

Dave Carter

Just hope Pat doesn’t introduce Coomer as “former Cub great”

Johnnie A

Coomer has a lot of personality, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and obviously knows the game. He should make a good partner for Pat. Good old Zonk seemed to have a limited sense of humor. I do recall Hawk Harrelson having somewhat of a man crush on Coomer in his playing days.

LER

The Twins have had good broadcast teas for years, and Coomer has fit in well. He’s affable, knows the game, can explain about anything, and built a loyal local following (along with Dan Gladden, Roy Smalley, Paul Molitor, Jim Kaat, etc.) He’ll do a good job and will neither groan inarticulately (like Santo) or grope for words (like Moreland).

Edwin

Plus, maybe the Cubs can flip him at the deadline for some good young upcoming talent.

C. Steadman

yeah hows the Cubs minor league radio talent looking? any potential TOB(top of the booth) guys?

Johnnie A

What kind of sabermetrics are used to project minor league broadcasters? Is there such a thing as a AAAA radio guy?

LER

Let the radio guys do both radio and TV; flip Len and JD to someplace for anything.

wilbur

The thing I like about the Ruggiano move and some of the bullpen pitching moves that are being made/considered is they are being done to balance out the lineup and provide options for the manager to make moves during a game. This sonsideration of how a team fits toghether is nice to see, and shows that the cubs FO is thinking of how to get better and win more, with each of the moves they make. I think they are improving the team to.
And we didn’t always see this larger picture lineup balanced view in years past. Then it was more a matter of getting the payroll spnet on players or pieces that you seemed almost desperate to land. There was no balance and no overall view of the roter except for how much the total payroll was. It seemed to be only driven by dollars and by trying to get positive media spin. Makiing moves for the sake of making moves was praised for no very good reason other than seeming to do something.

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